The Unknown
by The Last Letter
Summary: This is the night that Darry, Soda and Pony find out that their parents are dead.


**The Unknown**

They were late.

Mom and Dad were never late, well, they were sometimes, but they were never _four hours_ late. We were all worried, I could tell, even though we all showed it in different ways. I tried to throw myself into my book, pretending that time wasn't passing, Sodapop sat glued to the T.V. and Darry was filling out college applications, but every couple of seconds he would glance out the window, brow creased with worry.

"Bed," Darry eventually said.

"_Darry_," I whined. I wouldn't be able to sleep until I knew Mom and Dad were home, safe and sound. I kept trying to convince myself that nothing was wrong. That Dad had just taken a 'shortcut' and gotten lost like he was known to do, but I wasn't buying it.

"Mom will kill me if she sees I let you two stay up this late." Darry stood, his own way of saying 'don't you dare argue with me'.

Soda jumped to his feet, slamming his thumb on the power button to the T.V. "C'mon Pony," he said, "I'll race you upstairs."

I took the challenge and bolted, but was halfway to my destination when I realized Soda wasn't following. I paused, cocked my head to the side and listened.

"You comin' up?" Soda asked.

"Not right yet, little buddy." Darry answered. "The deadline for these applications is coming up soon."

I didn't hear a reply, but I heard Soda's footsteps, loud and fast, coming in my direction. I dashed upstairs, Soda not far behind.

A knock echoed through the house, wrenching me from sleep. I peeled open one eye, and heard Darry curse in the hall, as he went to answer the door. When I was certain he was downstairs, I clipped out of bed and into the hall where I ran into Soda. My brother put a finger to his lips and I nodded. We crept as close as we dared to the top of the stairs, and listened.

Darry opened the door. "Can I help you?" He asked through a yawn.

"Darrell Curtis?" A man's voice.

"That would be me."

"My name is Simon Andrews; I'm with the local police department. May I come in?"

"Of course."

There was a shuffling sound, and the door closed. A slight squeaking noise and I visualized them sitting on the couch.

"Your parents are Patrick and Susan Curtis, correct?"

"Yes." I heard worry seep into Darry's tone, and panic seized me, didn't Mom and Dad come home?

"Darrell, your parents were in a car accident earlier this evening –"

"What kind of an accident? They'll be okay, right?" Darry's voice went from completely panicked to simple urgency in less than a breath.

"I'm sorry," Mr. Andrews said as dread consumed me. "They died on impact."

Soda let out a small sound behind me, and I collapsed again the wall. Mom and Dad weren't dead. They came home last night, after I fell asleep. I would wake up to the smell of pancakes, and Mom yelling that I would be late for school if I didn't get my lazy butt out of bed right this second.

Soda wrapped his arms around me, and we sat in the hall, rocking back and forth.

"Thank-you for coming, Mr. Andrews," Darry's low voice echoed through the house.

"Come down to the station tomorrow for your parents' things and someone will help you sort out legal matters, like the funeral," the word 'funeral' yanked an unnoticed cry from my lips, "and what will happen to your brothers."

"My brothers." Darry repeated.

"Goodnight, Darrell."

"Goodnight."

I didn't hear the door close, or hear Darry coming up the stairs until he was towering over us, his shadow long as the he switched on a light. I blinked in the sudden brightness, my face stiff from my tears. Darry sat down on the top step, and Soda scooted closer, dragging me with him.

"You guys shouldn't have been listening." Darry said after a few moments of silence.

Soda broke down, face twitching as he cried. "What are we gonna do?"

Darry's eyes looked a little glassy, but he didn't cry. "It'll be okay, little buddy."

"How can you be sure?" I sniffed. "What if we get separated or something? They can't put us in a boy's home, can they?"

"It'll be okay," Darry repeated.

I wanted to believe my brother, I wanted to believe it would be okay, simply because he said it would, but I didn't see how anything could ever be okay again. My parents were dead, anything could happen now. I wished that the worse could be over, that after losing them, it could only get better, because we had already hit rock bottom, but it was a pointless wish, one that couldn't come true. Because after this, there comes the funeral, and the unknown, and that might be the worst of all.

**I wrote this as a school project. I hope you like it. I do not own **_**The Outsiders.**_

**~DI4MGZ~**


End file.
